Teaching with CORI: Taking the Big Jump.

Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) offers children the opportunity for endless challenges and discovery. Engaged literacy learners are motivated, have conceptual understanding, use cognitive strategies, and interact socially. CORI is a classroom context that promotes literacy engagement in terms of seven dimensions: observational, conceptual, self-directed, strategic, collaborative, self-expressive, and coherent. To teach CORI, teachers need lots of trade books, imagination, a plan, and at least one other teacher or a team of teachers to share ideas and give and receive feedback. Three of the most salient and important benefits of CORI are: (1) the development of long-term motivation; (2) development of long-term motivation coupled with higher-order thinking skills and strategy use; and (3) CORI helps students to think conceptually and cogently. (RS)